A 24-year-old man was allegedly stabbed to death by a friend in full view on Wednesday morning in south-east Delhi’s Jaitpur for demanding repayment of the ₹2,000 loan he had given the accused, the police said on Thursday.
Victim Ranjan Singh was a resident of O Block in Jaitpur and a driver by profession. He was allegedly stabbed by his friend Puneet, who is a resident of F Block. Puneet was arrested from the spot after patrol officers spotted him.
Ranjan’s family said he had lent ₹2,000 to Puneet about two months ago. Since Ranjan started asking Puneet over the past few weeks to return the money, the accused started avoiding him and stopped taking his calls. A few days before the incident, Ranjan spotted Puneet near his house and once again asked him to return the money. This, however turned into an argument.
Argument turns violent
Ranjan’s 20-year-old brother Manjeet said, “The argument turned violent and culminated in a physical fight. Our father was forced intervened. Puneet said he owed ₹1,000 and not ₹2,000. To this, our father told him to return whatever amount he thought he owed Ranjan.”
Manjeet said Puneet claimed he did not have the amount on him but would return it on Wednesday.
The family alleged that Ranjan received a call from a mutual friend Aakash on Wednesday morning. Aakash asked him to come to a park nearby to talk about the loan.
“Ranjan went to the park alone around 7 a.m. We were told there was a physical fight between the two [Puneet and Ranjan], after which Puneet stabbed him a few times on the legs and arms,” Manjeet said.
Ranjan allegedly tried to escape but got caught in the concertina wire on the fence. The accused managed to stab him a few more times.
Police alerted
Witnesses to the incident alerted the staff of a PCR van parked nearby. The police rushed to the spot and caught Puneet, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (PCR) S. D. Misra.
The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
‘No help’
Manjeet claimed that hundreds of people had witnessed the fight and the murder but no one came forward to stop Puneet.
“It is a small park but it is always full of people. There is another park adjacent to it. But no one came to help [my brother]. There was police van nearby too. Could they not have done something?” Manjeet said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East) Chinmoy Biswal said a case under Section 302 (punishment for murder) has been registered.
“The murder weapon — a knife — has also been seized. Ranjan’s post-mortem was conducted at AIIMS and his body was handed over to the family on Thursday,” he said.
